


Predator/Prey

by Erin_Leigh



Category: Original Work
Genre: Anal Sex, Erotica, Fish out of Water, Gay Sex, LITERALLY, Licking, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Smut, a shark who's hungry for human meat, hUE HUE, he's a merman, more like a shark, not like sweet little mermaid kind of merfolk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:40:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27385849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erin_Leigh/pseuds/Erin_Leigh
Summary: I don’t know what I’m doing. This is so foreign to me. Merpeople mated, then separated. We didn’t do… this.But it felt right.He tilts his head, deepening the kiss, and I feel a moment of uncertainty when he tries to slide his tongue into my mouth. I fear my teeth. I don’t know what will happen; I don’t know if I might hurt him.Then I taste blood, and feel him flinch against me. I draw back immediately, suddenly full of… hatred. Hatred for being the awful creature I am. Hatred for everything I once loved about myself.I am just a predator, nothing more.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Predator/Prey

I've tried everything.

I've tried calling for sea creatures to help me, but the distance is too great.

I've tried crawling away from this prison of a lake, but I started to dehydrate faster than I could crawl.

I was going to die here.

The sun shines brightly, as if in mockery, warming my scales and flesh. Earlier, it had been hiding behind the storm cloud that had taken me away from my home and stranded me here.

Sadness swells within my chest, and I begin to sing a mournful song. Everything goes quiet, and I can hear my own voice echoing through the surrounding forest.

The song ends with a soft sob. I will never swim free again. I will never enjoy the thrill of the hunt, taste a fish as it dies, or fight with sharks for fun.

I was a predator, but now I was trapped like prey.

If I'm going to die, then I will die on my terms.

I swim to the shore and pull myself onto the muddy bank, then close my eyes and wait for the end.

It's not clear how much time passes, but I'm startled awake as something starts to press on my chest. Through bleary, half-closed eyes, I can make out the form of a human hovering above me.

He looks panicked as his mouth moves, the sound distant and unrecognizable.

Ah, he's trying to save me. Humans always were stupid creatures.

I don't move. I just let it happen, figuring he will give up when he sees his efforts are futile. I am already dead, as far as I'm concerned.

He continues to push on my chest, and I can make out his features. He's young, with tanned skin and eyes the color of honey.

Just as my annoyance starts to rile up and I think about pushing him away, suddenly, his lips are on mine and he's trying to breathe air into my lungs. I shudder and pull away with a flail of my hands against his face and shoulders.

"It worked!" he declares, laughing with relief. "You're alive!"

I snarl, a hand covering my mouth to protect it from another invasion. "How _dare_ you violate me, human filth!"

"What? But you're okay now! I thought…" His face twists into one of horror. "I'm sorry! I didn't know… please, forgive me!"

I flop onto my side to face my back to him and flick my tail to warn him off. "Disgusting. You humans have no respect."

A hand reaches out to touch me and I slap it away.

"If you wish to make up for your mistakes," I say, "then take me to the ocean."

"What?" His brow furrows. "No, it's too far away. I can't carry you there."

I glare and open my mouth to yell, but he interrupts.

"I'll try. I can try. But… it will take days, maybe weeks."

At the sound of him rising to his feet, I look over my shoulder at him. He offers a weak smile and says, "My name is Max."

I snort at the simple noise that represents his name. "An appropriately human name. You may refer to me as Renault."

He nods. We sit in silence as he tries to figure out how to carry me. Eventually, he settles on slinging my arm over his shoulder and hosting me up against his chest.

I feel vulnerable in his arms, one bracing the middle of my back and the other under my tail. I immediately regret this. "No, I've changed my mind. Leave me here. I would rather die with what dignity I have left."

Max's face falls. "But, but I've already got you." He says that, but he's struggling under the awkwardness of my form. He gives up and slowly sets me back down.

I start to drag myself back to the lake. "You tried. I'll grant you that. But I will perish before you can get me there, so I might as well do it here, in the water, instead of the arms of a human."

He watches my struggle, then picks me up again despite my protests. He cradles me against his chest and moves slowly toward the water.

I hate it. I hate the warmth of his skin against my cold flesh, how I can feel his muscles and flesh.

My people were slim and lithe to move faster through the water. For us, speed was paramount to all else. After all, there was no use in being strong if you couldn't catch your prey.

I never knew muscles felt so… strong.

I also never knew that humans felt warm, like seaweed draped in the shallows on a summer day.

I feel his muscles move against me, and I can't take it anymore. I shove at his chest as soon as his feet hit the water.

Unfortunately, it's so shallow that I more or less land like a rock, pain lancing through my side. I hiss and try to hide the fact I've just broken my arm… and fail.

Max stares at me, horrified. "What did I do wrong?"

I snap in exasperation, sharp teeth bared. "You interfered! You took my death away from me!"

He flinches and steps back. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to help."

"Why?" I hiss. "We're enemies! Predator and prey!"

He just stares at me for a moment. "No, you're not. You're just… different." He looks away, then back at me.

I try to pull myself into deeper water, but the broken arm screams, and I cry out involuntarily. Weakness. Disgusting.

He is instantly at my side. "I'll get you to the water, I promise. Just don't fight me again."

I nod slowly, reluctantly. He picks me up again and takes several steps deeper into the lake until it's up to his waist. "Is this okay?"

I nod again. He gently places me down in the cool water, supporting my arm.

I float, clenching my eyes shut. I wish he would just put me out of my misery. Starving to death in this little puddle of a lake, with a broken arm and a body sullied by a human. The only dignity I have left is not to beg, so I don't.

Max starts to wade out of the lake and calls over his shoulder, "I'm going to get you something for that arm. I won't be long."

I stare at the water around me. It's a dingy brown-grey color, filled with mud and no salt. I crave the salt and miss the bright, endless blue.

My life is over. Everything is in ruins, and it's not my fault. It's the humans on the surface.

Always controlling, always destroying.

Nature grew violent in reaction to the damage they caused to her, and I was caught in the middle of it.

Max returns sometime later with a bowl. There's water inside, and I can see movement from where I am.

I awkwardly swim closer and recognize the movement as little fish, swimming desperately to escape. My mouth waters. "How will that help with my arm?" I ask, simply because it's easier than thanking him for bringing food.

"Fresh fish is supposed to be good for healing wounds," he says with a smile. "I've brought you a few."

I snap up one of the little fish and devour it. It's so small that I can eat the whole thing in one bite. It doesn't really do much to sate my hunger, but it's better than nothing.

I look at him, then offer my best attempt at a smile. He flinches, since unlike his flat, useless little human teeth, mine are sharp for biting and tearing into flesh.

He looks at me nervously. Perhaps he's finally realized what I am. "I'll be back with more food later."

I watch him leave, before twisting around so I can move back into the water with my good arm.

My arm burns like nothing I've ever felt before. It's so painful that it takes my breath away. I lie back and take deep breaths, willing the pain to go away.

It doesn't, of course.

I look around to see if I'm alone and, as far as I can tell, I am.

I express my pain the only way I know how: through song. My voice rises up in a broken falsetto, like a wounded animal baying at the moon before death.

I go quiet again and wait for Max, my eyes shut in pain.

There's a shuffling sound behind me, and I snap around. Max stands over me, his spear held out to his side.

I stare, wide-eyed. "So, you're going to end my suffering after all?"

He tosses a fish toward me. It lands with no grace, a hole in its side. Ah. He fished with a spear. Typical of humans.

"No," he says softly. "I brought more food."

I clutch the fish with my good arm. I bite into it, the blood still fresh enough to fill my mouth with warmth. "Why are you doing this?"

He stares down at me, his eyes full of sorrow. "Because no creature should have to suffer like this."

I let out a long sigh. I won't thank him, but I nod my silent gratitude.

He smiles, as if he understands. "I'll be back with more food later."

He leaves, and returns every few days with more food. Most of it is fish, because when he tried to feed me something he calls _bread,_ I gagged and let him know exactly what I think of his horrible human food.

I heal, slowly. Sometimes he stays to talk with me about his boring life, and I allow him the courtesy of my ear. I learn he is the only son of a blacksmith, but he has no talent for the trade and spends most days outside of the village to hide from his father.

I don't understand. My people don't have this… concept of _family_. We are born from eggs, and we hunt. Sometimes we form bonds with other merfolk and hunt together. Sometimes we fight.

After another story about Max's father's disappointment in him, I say.

"Then fight him for dominance," I say flippantly.

He stares at me, wide-eyed. "I could never do that."

I smirk, razor teeth flashing in the setting sunlight. "And that is why you are weak. If I discovered the male who fertilized my egg wished to force his will on me, I would go for the throat. It is the weak spot."

He shifts uncomfortably, then looks me in the eye. "Can… Can you tell me about your home?"

I'm surprised by the request, but not as offended as I would have been ordinarily.

I roll over on the rock I've claimed as my sunning rock for warmth. "The ocean is vast and beautiful. It is easy to find solace, to be only with the deepest of sea creatures. I used to enjoy a grotto of glowing coral. It was my... haven."

My chest aches with longing.

"The sea is full of wonder and life, and the greatest hunts I've ever been on. I once single-handedly took down a Great White shark!" I beam with pride at the memory.

Max raises an eyebrow. "Does it have many predators?"

"It did not. Indeed, I was one of the only predators large enough to hunt it, and I was victorious." I grin.

He chuckles. "You're a fierce predator."

I nod, then roll over again. "I was. Now I am a pet for a human and hunt nothing."

He makes a sympathetic noise. "Perhaps things will get better one day."

I don't answer. Things are as they are now. There was no point in wishing for anything more.

I slide off the rock and sink into the water. "The night is approaching. You should return to your village before a wolf hunts you for sport."

With a small nod, he stands up and walks toward the forest.

I drift off into a nap, but there's a scream. My heart pounds in my chest as I look around wildly at the darkness surrounding the lake.

Then, the air is split by a beastly roar.

My eyes adjust to the moonlight, and I can see Max on the bank, screaming in pain. His leg is bleeding, and a large creature stands over him, maw wide and ready to kill.

I don't quite know what happens next, but when I come back to myself, I am halfway into the forest, sinking my teeth into the neck of the beast. My heart is racing, and there is blood running down my side from a wound.

I feel it die, the heartbeat against my mouth fading away.

I am victorious.

I look over at Max and give him a wicked, bloody grin. And then I collapse.

When I awaken, I am back in the lake. Max is kneeling over me, and he smiles when he sees my eyes flicker open.

"You're awake!"

I sit upright, groaning as pain shoots through my side, and look at his leg. "Your injury—"

He shakes his head. "Is nothing, don't worry." I give him a look, and he admits, "Okay, it hurts like hell, but… it's nothing compared to yours! You…"

I remember, foggily. I'd thrown myself out of the lake to engage the beast before it could end Max's life. It had taken everything I had to wrestle with a beast on land, but there had been a fire in my veins.

The sight of Max injured had stoked something primal within me.

I close my eyes as a strange thought crosses my mind.

If I had been faster, Max wouldn't have gotten hurt.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

I look away from him. "I am… glad. That you're all right." I clear my throat and shake my head, as if trying to rid myself of the thought. "You should get yourself tended before your injury becomes worse."

"I… Yes." His eyes lower to his leg, and a shadow seems to pass over him. "Yes, you're right."

He looks up to meet my eyes, and his face is pale and… something else. I can't quite identify the emotion, but it's not fair. It makes me uncomfortable to see, but I'm at a loss as to how to react.

I turn away so I don't have to see whatever it is. "I will see you when you've recovered. Don't give me a thought. I will sustain myself."

I dive into the water and swim, not stopping until I'm far down below the surface, and collapse against the muck.

I can't explain my actions. Was it just self-preservation? Yes, that had to be it. Max is my only source of food. If he dies, it would be inconvenient for me.

It has nothing to do with... feelings. Those are for humans.

I lie against the lake bed and feel the water move against my scales and skin. It's warm, which I've grown accustomed to. I don't like it, but I don't hate it anymore.

The gash in my side throbs, but I don't seem to be too injured. Max, though… He is soft. He is not meant for fighting. He can't be doing well with his injuries.

I shake my head, trying to free it of thoughts of him. It's been a few days, but humans are so fragile. It would just take him longer to recover.

He would come back.

Right? 

Days pass into weeks, and I find myself spending more time on land, testing the limits of how far I can crawl.

The truth is, not very far. The heat will start to wear me down before my arms give out. Then the panic sets in as I get further away from the water, and I fear I won't be able to make it back.

He doesn't come back. 

It's been four weeks since he left. 

I have learned how to hunt small creatures on land, little insects that I loathe the taste of but keep me sustained.

As I drag myself through the mud in search of something to eat, I realize he may have died from his injury.

The force of the realization hits me like a physical blow, and a high-pitched note escapes me.

I sing. I mourn. 

My heart breaks and my voice echoes against the trees, and the surrounding forest goes quiet as I grieve.

I lay down in the mud and close my eyes.

Without him, I am dead. 

And if I've lost him, I would rather be dead.

Then I hear twigs snap, and I whirl around to face the source of the noise, and my heart catches in my throat.

It's Max.

I can't fight the note that leaves me, something delighted and confused and scared and broken.

I'm happy to see him, and it terrifies me.

He says nothing as he sits down beside me. He's thinner, paler. But he's still my human.

"I thought you were dead," I whisper.

"I thought I was, too."

"How did you survive?"

He smiles ruefully. "I suppose I was just too stubborn to go." He pauses. "I'm sorry I worried you."

I give a firm shake of my head. "I'm just glad you're all right."

I stare at him, unsure of how to express the emotions in my chest. I've never felt so deeply before. I want to keep him close and never let go.

I want to touch him, to feel his skin against mine.

I want… him.

He leans in slowly, and I mirror his movement. Our lips brush together before pressing in earnest, his arms encircling me and mine doing the same.

I don't know what I'm doing. This is so foreign to me. Merpeople mated, then separated. We didn't do… this.

But it felt right.

He tilts his head, deepening the kiss, and I feel a moment of uncertainty when he tries to slide his tongue into my mouth. I fear my teeth. I don't know what will happen; I don't know if I might hurt him.

Then I taste blood, and feel him flinch against me. I draw back immediately, suddenly full of… hatred. Hatred for being the awful creature I am. Hatred for everything I once loved about myself.

I dive below the water and try to get as far from him as I can while he calls, "Wait! Come back!"

I bury myself into the mud, begging it to pull me in and take me away.

What was I thinking? What was that? What did I expect?

I am a predator. I hunted. I killed. I didn't do tender things like kiss or love.

I can't even bear to be in my own skin any longer.

I am a monster.

Then, I feel a tug on my tail, and I look to see Max struggling in the water behind me. His eyes are pleading, and I curse at him.

"You can't breathe underwater!" I yell at him as I pull him to the surface, then shove him toward the land. "Get out of here!"

"What? Why?" He reaches for me. "I want to be with you. You… That… It felt right."

I stare at him in horror and disbelief. "What? No! I'm not… safe!"

He shakes his head, taking a step forward. "That's not true. It was just an accident. I'll be more careful, I promise."

"I can't!" I shake my head furiously. "I can't do… these things. I'm not capable of it." I struggle as my throat grows tight. "I'm not right. You must understand. I'm—"

"Stop," he says in a soft voice, and smiles. "It's okay. It's okay, love."

I freeze as he wraps his arms around me and holds me tight against his chest. Softly, I ask, "What did you call me?"

"Love."

I gaze at his handsome face and kind eyes, and I feel my defenses crumbling.

He wasn't leaving. He wanted me. All of me, the good and the bad.

"We can do this," he continues. "We're in this together, okay? I'm here for you."

I wrap my arms around his shoulders and hug him back, suddenly struggling to breathe easily.

"Max, I..." I sigh. "I could hurt you. I don't know how to _not_ hurt you. Humans are soft, and my people... We are not soft."

He frowns, then nods. "I understand. Just, we can work around it. I want to be with you, okay?"

I swallow nervously. I don't know if I share in his confidence, but I'll try. I move my head and do my best to kiss his neck, softly, without teeth. I can feel his heartbeat against my lips.

Instinct tells me to rip and tear, but I fight it, instead moving my lips up to his jawline.

"Just go slow, all right?" he says, his hand stroking my back in reassuring circles. "Don't rush."

I move to his ear, then his cheek, and finally to his lips. This time, I keep my mouth firmly close. As we kiss, my member begins to emerge from its sheath, and I break away with renewed fear.

What if I disgusted him? What if merfolk genitalia was so foreign that he was sickened by the sight?

Panicked, I turn away and try to will it back inside the folds.

"Wait!" He reaches for me, and when I flinch, he retracts his hand. "It's okay. We don't have to do this now."

I look at him, eyes full of deep sorrow. Oh, I want this. I have only mated out of biological imperative before. I couldn't even remember any of the females; none of it had mattered.

This was different. This came from the heart, not instinct.

This mattered.

I slowly turn to face him, moving into the shallow water. I hesitate, then lie on my back, my erection jutting into the air like a blade, curved and long and the same deep shade of blue as my scales.

He shifts so he can lie next to me and props his head up with one hand. With his other, he runs it along my chest, tracing the scales as they flow down my body.

I struggle to breathe at the gentleness of his touch. His hand keeps moving down, caressing my stomach, before finally wrapping around my length.

"You're so soft here," he says, gently squeezing and rubbing his thumb against the head.

I cry out in pleasure, a high note that trilled with all the new emotions running through my chest. I writhe, thrusting myself into his hand, desperate for more.

He chuckles and slides his hand down and back up, but it's all too much. I gasp and shudder as I release, panting, shocked that I lasted as long as I did.

I look at him with a haze of bliss, then look down toward his own groin with intent to return the favor.

His eyes go wide and he leans away from me. "Uh, no, no. You don't have to do that."

I frown, my eyes falling down to my hands and I see the barbed nails. I quickly pull my hand in toward my chest. "Of course not," I mutter, hating myself again.

"No, it's not that. It's..." He runs a hand through his hair, turning a deep shade of red. "It... I don't... Well, you looked... So, I—I already..."

I blink with sudden understanding. "You are already spent."

"Yeah," he mumbles.

I try not to smile as my hatred is burnt away by the searing light of joy. Just that little bit of intimacy had caused him pleasure. _I_ had caused him pleasure.

I move closer, looking up at him again, this time letting the intensity of my desire show in my dark eyes. "It must be uncomfortable, having such a mess under your clothes." I smile and reach for his pants. "This is why we don't wear any. Why don't you let me help... clean you off?"

He stutters and stammers as he shakes his head, but doesn't otherwise resist as I fumble with his pants to slide them off him.

There isn't as much a distinct smear of semen, more just a bunch of indistinct wetness. I don't care. I lick at the skin of his inner thighs.

This, I think, I can do. My tongue is rougher than his, but not dangerous.

I can do this for him.

I hold his thighs in my hands, gently caressing the muscles as I hear him gasp. It's a good gasp, one that comes from pleasure rather than fear or worry.

I love the sound of it, more than any I'd heard before. I move my tongue to the more sensitive skin at the crease of his thigh, my cheek brushing against his soft member.

He lets out a moan, and I can feel his fingers curl against my scalp. I eagerly lap up the bit of fluids I can find, my tongue lingering against his skin. The saltiness makes me moan as well, and the vibrations send shivers through his body.

"Ren... Renault..." he gasps. "Don't... Don't stop..."

I couldn't imagine stopping.

I ease him down onto his back, his feet in the water and the rest of him on land. It allows me to keep half of myself submerged while I move my tongue in slow, torturous circles.

His legs shake as I hold them, his thighs tightening against my grip. I pull back, gently sucking his skin as my lips slide up and down the length of his manhood.

I take extra care to keep my teeth away from his sensitive flesh. It feels different from my own, not a smooth, slick organ, but something convoluted, with a flared head and throbbing veins.

I kiss at the contours, then slowly pull away to look down at him. Why was he still mostly soft? Was he not attracted to me after all? I lean in again, and use my tongue and light suction to try to coax him into hardness.

"Ren..." he whispers, but he doesn't push me away.

I frown when there is little more than sensitive twitching. I sit up, pride a little wounded. "What is the problem? Is it me? Am I not attractive to you?"

"No! You're beautiful! So much more beautiful than you could ever imagine. But I... We..."

I hiss in frustration. "Spit it out, human!"

He looks at me, faltering as he admits, "I want to be inside you."

I stare at him in shock. The concept of a male mounting another male is completely unknown to me. And yet... the way he says it, the look in his eyes, it all makes me feel hot and cold at the same time.

"How does such a thing occur?" I look down at myself. "I have the wrong genitalia."

"No, no, you've got that part right," he says, giving a nervous chuckle. He sits up, and I can't help but stare at his manhood.

I swallow nervously. It seems bigger. Did it grow in the brief moment my eyes were elsewhere?

I never back down from a challenge, however, and I pull myself closer. "What part do I have wrong?"

He reaches out a hand and I eye it with no small amount of trepidation, but I take the hand, trying not to show my uncertainty.

Slowly, he pulls me toward him. He turns me around so I face away from him, which only furthers my confusion.

Then a hand touches me in a place I had never been touched before, and I cry out in surprise. "Max!"

He pulls his hand away. "Sorry! I guess I should have warned you first."

I turn my head to frown at him. "I don't know how humans function, but _that_ is not for mating."

He stares at me for a moment, and then bursts into laughter. I don't know what's so funny, so I just glare at him.

He wipes a tear from his eye. "Ah, I'm sorry, it's just... You're so cute when you're mad."

I feel a blush creep up my cheeks. "Cute?"

He grins. "Yeah. That word works. Come here." He wraps his arms around me, and I can't help but lean into him a little.

"So... how does this work?" I ask, fidgeting.

He moves, and his pelvis grinds against my rear. Before I can delight in how hard he is, the hand returns, gently poking and prodding.

"Max...?"

I gasp as something enters me and begins to move. I've never felt anything like it before. And then it goes deeper, and my body trembles as bliss explodes from somewhere within.

It's incredible.

My whole body shivers as he rubs the spot again, and I writhe, suddenly desperate for more. He takes his time, slowly adding another finger before he pulls them away.

Something different presses there, larger and harder, and I freeze when I realize what it is.

"Sorry, it might hurt just a little bit," he says as he starts to push inside.

I grit my teeth and grunt through the pain. He pauses, giving me time to adjust to the new sensation. Then he thrusts, and I cry out again, but in an entirely different way.

"Ren?" he asks, stopping.

"Don't stop!" I gasp out.

He lets out a soft chuckle and begins to thrust in earnest, and I can feel something building up within me. Something incredible.

He wraps his arms around my chest, and I push back against him as he thrusts into me. We become a single entity, and I can think of nothing but him. Just as we find a rhythm, he cries out my name and shudders violently.

The sensation reaches an incredible crescendo, and we finish together.

I collapse, panting and trying to find my senses. I look down at myself, marveling at this whole new world of unexplored possibilities.

Had I been capable of feeling this way my whole life?

Why had no one told me?

I growl, dark and hungry, and turn over to grind against him, but pause when I see a look of surprise on his face. "What?"

"You're already hard again?" he asks with a bit of awe in his voice.

I frown, confused. "Of course." Then I pause and carefully ask, "How frequently do humans mate?"

"Once, sometimes twice a day," he says, blushing.

I blink in surprise. "Oh." My face grows hot with a bit of shame. "We... can mate with twenty or more females within an hour."

His mouth falls open. "That's impossible!"

I give a little push of my hips, my erection like a rock against his thigh. "Are you certain?"

He swallows nervously, his pale skin flushing an adorable shade of red. "I... suppose not."

I smile and lean in, pressing my lips to his. I cannot wait once or twice a day. Now that I've tasted such bliss, I want more.

More.

_ More. _

I push against him, slick and hard. "Can I..." I pant, already close. "I want to try... inside you..."

His breath catches, and he stares at me with a desperate look in his eyes. I shift down between his legs and grip my member, gently pressing it against his entrance.

I am barely halfway in when I cry out in a broken gasp, my body shuddering in an odd sort of release that I've never felt before. I collapse onto him, panting.

"Oh!" he gasps. "Did you finish already?"

I groan, pushing myself back up with trembling arms. "I'm sorry."

"Ah..." He smiles awkwardly. "Well, it happens. As long as it felt good to you..."

I quickly press a hand to his chest. "I feel amazing! Perhaps." My head ducks. "Perhaps the quantity is not as good as your once or twice a day."

"No, it's fine, really," he says reassuringly, but there is a note of strain ins his voice, as if he's forcing himself to be polite.

I frown and bite my lip. "I will try." I take a deep breath and close my eyes. "Give me a moment, and I'll try again."

He laughs and sits up, cupping my face in his hands. "It's fine, Ren. Honestly."

I am a hunter.

I am a predator.

I do not give up so easily on my prey.

I surge forward and kiss him, pushing him back down. It only takes a moment before I am fully erect again, and this time, I plan to stay that way for as long as possible.

I am going to mate this human, and I am going to claim him as mine.

A soft moan tumbles out of his sweet lips, and he arches up against me as I grind my arousal against his thigh.

I hunger in a way I never have before. I bite my tongue, teeth tearing in and keeping pain at the forefront of my mind as I push into him again.

I will not release.

I will mate him, long and hard and properly.

I manage to get fully seated inside him, and after a couple steadying breaths, I thrust. I keep the pace sensual and soft rather than fast and demanding. I press my chest to his as I kiss him, and he wraps his arms around my neck, kissing me back with a desperate passion.

He turns his head to whisper into my ear, "Harder."

I don't have to be told twice. The smoothness of my flesh makes it so easy to slide in and out. I brace myself and experiment with how to move my hips to best pound into him.

I slam forward, a cry bursting out from both our lips as I find his sweet spot. I do it again. And again, and again.

I have to beg myself to fight the urge, the need. Everything in me screams for release, but I won't. I won't until he has. Only once he is satisfied will I allow myself the pleasure.

I set a brutal pace, slamming into him again and again. He pants and moans and cries out in a way I've never heard before.

"Mm! Ren! Harder! Please!" He wraps his legs around me, pulling me in as I thrust, and whimpers. "Don't—Don't stop."

I don't plan to. I won't. I can't.

I continue to take him, harder and faster, my whole body aching with need.

"I'm going to—" he cries loudly.

I slam into him one more time as he arches his back off the ground, his heat clenching tightly around me. I can't stave it off a second longer, not with him making such beautiful music in my ear, not with him squeezing around me.

I finally let go, and it's like nothing I could have imagined. The full force of all the pent-up seed is so much, too much, that I find myself almost in tears from the overwhelming sensation of emptying completely in just one orgasm.

My vision goes momentarily white as my body tenses and releases again and again. By the time it's finally over, I'm left a panting, happy mess.

"Good?" he asks.

I just groan in response, too exhausted to do anything else.

He hugs me tightly and kisses my cheek. "I love you."

I don't even have it in me to say it back, but I know that it's true.

I never knew what love was, or if I were capable of it.

But as my body continues to shake from the impact of my orgasm, all twenty in one release, I know what I feel.

I love this human.

I love Max.

And as I kiss him one more time, as he smiles against my lips, as we hold each other close, I feel a peace deeper than any before.

I'll never be lonely again.

**Author's Note:**

> ❤️ Thank you for reading! Every kudo means the world to me.  
> 💬 Want to connect? [I'm on Discord!](https://discord.gg/yK8Q9dDY7r)  
> 📚 Are you a Kindle Unlimited subscriber? [I have ebooks!](https://amazon.com/author/erin-leigh)


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